Rutland U3AApril Newsletter 2012Page 1
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
As I write this we are basking in this exceptional spring weather and I am racing to finish my article so I can get into the garden. No doubt there will be a sting in the tail for the mild winter and early spring, lack of rain is the obvious candidate but don’t discount the Olympic 100 metres final being contested on skis!
I find it difficult to comprehend that I have now completed my first year as chairman. As I said in my report to our AGM I believe that the year has been successful and we have made improvements to the firm base on which we started. Key to the effort has been the work done to ensure we have better communication with the membership. As our numbers have increased we have had to upgrade our methods to ensure that information gets out quickly and hence the pressure to use electronic systems and the launch of the monthly e-letter.
The key objective for the coming year has to be the successful conclusion of our pursuit of gift aid. Most of the surrounding U3A’s are in receipt of this benefit and I am sure they are able to put it to good use in progressing their activities. As you are aware we have asked the membership to sign up for the scheme during the annual subscription process and I would like to thank the high proportion of members who have already given us a positive response. For those who have yet to sign up it is critical that you do so either by signing your subscription form or by contacting David Morgan as soon as possible. Regarding our efforts to engage with the HMRC we have not yet had a response. I am determined that we will achieve parity with other U3A’s and ensure that we achieve our rightful award for the improvement of Rutland U3A.
I am pleased to report that all of last year’s committee have agreed to stay on and we have also been able to fill our one vacancy. I am delighted to welcome Helen Shea to the committee and I am sure her obvious energy and enthusiasm will be a key factor in our future activities. She is a relative new-comer to the U3A and I would be grateful for all the support you can give her.
During the last 3 months our monthly meetings have been dominated by our own members and I have been delighted by both the quality and content of the presentations. In January, Edwin Cheetwin give us an insight into his lifelong passion for cacti not only in their natural habitat but also in their cultivation in Oakham. Unfortunately in February at short notice Nicholas Wainwright was too busy to attend and we were indebted to Stewart Marchant for filling in with his excellent talk on Family History through Photography. As I am tracing my family history I was fascinated by how much information Stewart has been able to deduce by reviewing his photographic archives. March obviously was given over to the AGM but the meeting was completed by the musical quiz “conducted” by Messrs Bagley and Davies. The quiz certainly generated some furrowed brows plus a lot of laughter. I had an Eric Morecambe moment by knowing the composers but not necessarily in the right order! Anyway thanks to both John and Richard for the time spent on a very enjoyable interlude.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of U3A in Britain. Whilst we are a little over half that age it is important to realise that without their presence and initiative Rutland U3A would not exist. U3A’s have local autonomy but the national framework does provide many services and support for the benefit of all.
Communication with the Committee
We have in the last year tried to provide some insight into the discussions we are having in the committee via brief reports in the monthly e-letter and on the rolling notices.
At the last meeting we spent some time discussing how members can communicate with the committee. On an informal basis members can approach any committee member and they will either be able provide an immediate answer, direct the question to a more relevant committee member in terms of responsibility or refer the issue to the next committee meeting for discussion and appropriate feedback.
For more complex or serious issues a formal approach should be made to either the chairman or the secretary. You can contact me by phone 720191 or e-mail or the secretary, David Morgan,by phone 756647 or e-mail.We will ensure that appropriate action is then taken in order to provide the relevant report. It may be necessary in exceptional circumstances to invite the person involved to have the opportunity to address the committee.
2012/13 COMMITTEE
The committee for 2012/13was confirmed at the AGM on the morning of March 1st and its membership with specific roles allocated are given below asdetermined at the Committee Meeting held later the same day:
John Redshaw - Chairman
Ann Spiers - Vice Chairman and Assistant Social Events Secretary
Patrick Miell - Treasurer
David Morgan - Secretary and Membership Secretary
Stewart Marchant - Equipment Secretary
Jean Wood - Social Events Secretary
Maureen Tingle – Groups Coordinator
Philip Pike – Newsletter Editor/PublicityOfficer
Joan Lennard - Speakers Secretary for 2012-2013
Helen Shea - Assistant Social Events
SUBSCRIPTIONS
NOW DUE!
The £10 annual subscription is now due and should be paid as soon as possible if you have not already done so. It can be paid at the monthly meetings or your cash/cheque can be sent to David Morgan, 8 Tyne Road, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6SJ.
Cheques should be made out to “Rutland U3A” and if you would like a programme and card for 2012/13(which also serves as your receipt), please enclose S.A.E.
David Morgan
GROUPS NEWS
As you will see from the latest Groups List we have three new groups: LADIES GOLF, BOOK GROUP and the restarting of GERMAN with a new leader.
Some ladies at the February meeting expressed an interest in a Theatre Group with maybe visits to Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough and Cambridge. The idea would be to share cars and car-parking costs.
If you are interested or have any other ideas, please contact me:
Maureen Tingle (Groups Co-ordinator) 01572 759400.
VISITS GROUP
Spending a morning learning how your rubbish is disposed is unlikely to be a popular choice but that is exactly what ten members of the Visits Group did at the Material Recycling Facility at Peterborough.
After an excellent power point presentation by our lady guide, we all donned “hi-viz” jackets and hard hats with ear-defenders through which our guide could speak to us over a radio. We then progressed into the noisy and dusty environment of the Plant.
We followed the conveyor by climbing up an iron staircase and through a door to find it had flattened out. Here items progressed into a huge rotating drum with holes of various sizes which continued the sorting process. The material then passed under a huge magnet which pulled out all the metal items.
On our return to the Visitor’s Room, we took off ourvery dusty helmets and jackets and were given a much needed drink before our questions began. It was interesting to learn that the steel in cans will appear as new tins on the supermarket shelves within six weeks and paper can be recycled seven times. More recycling facilities are being built with more modern equipment.
To sum up - KEEP RECYCLING - it really does work.
MUSIC APPRECIATION GROUP
At the February meeting, British composer Muzio Clementi was introduced to members of the Music Appreciation Group by Viv Jackson. We had thought he was perhaps an Italian composer contemporary with Vivaldi. It turns out that he was born in Rome in 1752 and trained there as a pianist. He was adopted by a Peter Beckford and taken to Dorset where he was employed to entertain local gentry. When the Broadwood piano was introduced in 1771, he developed a playing style suited to this more robust instrument and soon moved to London as a renowned piano virtuoso and teacher. Indeed, on tour to the continent, he competed with Mozart in Vienna and the result was a worthy draw although Mozart was horrified to find he had a rival! In London he assisted greatly in the development of the modern piano and wrote a huge number of works for both piano and orchestra which are largely forgotten today. This is not because they are inferior works. It was the misfortune of thismodest man to be composing at the same time as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, the three giants of classical music. He was honoured by being buried in Westminster Abbey and his house in Kensington still stands.
PLAY READING GROUP
This year we have read a variety of works from Arnold Rigby’s “The Ghost Train” to Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard” including works by Terence Rattigan, Agatha Christie, and Tom Stoppard: the latter, “On the Razzle” being a super farce and great fun to read.
The highlight of the year was a visit to the RSC at Stratford on Avon to attend a theatre workshop and see a performance of “The Taming of the Shrew”.
For some of us it was the first visit to the new theatre which has been constructed within the old one on the lines of the Elizabethan theatres with the stage in the centre and the seats arranged in balconies around.
The morning was taken up with the workshop designed for students (regardless of age). Three members of the cast acted out the same scene using a different emphasis each time so that we saw how body language, character relationships or different personalities can alter the perception of the audience as much, if not more, than the actual dialogue.
The afternoon performance of “The Taming of the Shrew” was a fast moving romp through the struggle of Petruchio and Katherinaas each sought to dominate until they both realised that neither of them could do without the other. Shakespeare’s wit and bawdyhumour were acted out by a very professional cast, making it a most enjoyable experience.
Anyone interested in joining our group please contact Maureen Tingle. We meet on the third Tuesday of the month.
POETRY GROUP
Our meeting in January was led by Philip and Coral Pike when we looked at Antipodean Poetry, including poems by the indigenous poet, Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker). On 15th February the Group met at Dorothy Watson’s home for ‘Love Poetry’. Led by Ann Ward, members contributed several of their favourite poems on ‘Love’ in all its forms. In March, Anna Wilson led a session on the poetry of Padraic Colum. This extended to Anna singing ‘She Moved through the Fair’ - a first for the Group. After tea we enjoyed members’ choices of Irish Poetry: Joyce, Yeats, MacNeice, Heaney, O’Brien and Carson. Our next meeting, 25thApril, will be on Tennyson, led by Professor Norman Page. Our annual outing this year on 30th May is to Eastwood for D. H. Lawrence and to Newstead Abbey for Byron.
Future dates: 4th July, 12th Sep, 17th Oct, 21st Nov and 12th Dec.
WALKING GROUP
We met up on 15th March at the Bewick Arms, Hallaton. It was misty early but by lunchtime it had turned into a warm, sunny day. 22 stalwart souls were led by Dennis over 5 1/4 miles of up-hill and down-dale. The fudge break was particularly enjoyed! Lunch was taken at the Bewick Arms washed down with a modicum of ale. Rumour has it that the person who shall remain nameless but who turned back early, only went back to sit in the sun outside the cafe to get a tan!
Next walk Thursday 19th April.
Raven Williams
LANDSCAPE GROUP – THE FENS
In January, the Landscape Group spent a fascinating day visiting the Great Fen Project which eventually will provide a fenland haven of 9,000 acres between Huntingdon and Peterborough.
In the middle ages, the fenlands were exactly that and contained many lakes or "meres" and marshy swamps. One of the largest was Whittlesea Mere to the south-east of Peterborough, which then lay on the course of the River Nene. Draining the fens using windmill pumps to create more land for agriculture was put in hand in the 17th century and improved in the 1830s by the use of steam pumps. By 1850, Whittlesea Mere had become a fraction of its former size and was only 1 metre deep. New and deeper drains and channels were cut as the new steam pumps lowered the water table rapidly. It had been noted that draining causes peat to shrink and to monitor this, a huge oak post was sunk in 1851 through the peat and embedded firmly in the underlying clay. The post was cut off level with the ground (but was replaced with an iron post of the same size in 1858).
Today the top of the Holme Post stands 4 metres above the surface showing the huge shrinkage of the drying peat. (A duplicate was added in the 1950s.)This is now the lowest lying land surface in the UK at 2.75 metres below sea level. The natural course of the river Nene no longer exists though traces of former beds are visible, (see OS Explorer maps 227 and 228). Instead, the water received from the higher ground to the west has been channelled into a straight canal running from Peterborough to Guyhirn with a lock to keep out high tides at Dog in a Doublet Farm. A glance at the map shows a rectangular arrangement of ditchesand drains showing that the landscape is entirely man-made.
John Bagley
STOP PRESS
IMPORTANT CORRECTIONS TO PUBLISHED PROGRAMME DATES
February 2013 Meeting is on Thursday 7th February
March 2013 Meeting is on Thursday 7th March
NEWSLETTER ITEMS/DISTRIBUTION
Please send all items for the next Quarterly Newsletter to me, Philip Pike, by June 14th. Word format via email preferred but any style will, as usual, be most welcome!
A reminder: the newsletter may be emailed to any members who wish to receive it this way, either as a Word Document or as a PDF attachment. If you are not already on the emailing list, simply email the address below requesting that we should add you to the list. Newsletters arealways available at the Monthly Meetings.
Contact details re the newsletter are as follows:
Email:
Tel: 01572 759487
Philip Pike
Rutland U3AApril Newsletter 2012Page 1
Rutland U3AApril Newsletter 2012Page 1